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Gutter

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gutter¹

  • /ˈɡʌt.ə/ UK
  • /ˈɡʌt.ɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈɡʌɾ.ɚ] Canada, US
  • /ˈɡat.ə/ Australia
  • [ˈɡaɾ.ə] Australia

Rhymes with -ʌtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English gutter, guttur, goter, from Anglo-Norman guttere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”).

noun gutters

  1. A prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water. They a not so clean as they might be, since the water [is] carried off by only one gutter, in the centre of t[he] street
  2. A ditch along the side of a road. In nearly all of the towns the gutters are filled with vegetation, or have been neglected for so long a time that the roadway becomes its own drainage bed.
  3. A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough. The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.
  4. A groove down the sides of a bowling lane. You can decide to use the bumpers to avoid the ball going down the gutter every time.
  5. A large groove (commonly behind animals) in a barn used for the collection and removal of animal excrement.
  6. Any narrow channel or groove, such as one formed by erosion in the vent of a gun from repeated firing.
  7. A space between printed columns of text.
  8. One of a number of pieces of wood or metal, grooved in the centre, used to separate the pages of type in a form.
  9. An unprinted space between rows of stamps.
  10. UK A drainage channel.
  11. The notional locus of things, acts, or events that are distasteful, ill-bred, or morally questionable. Nosei (Löwensohn): This is Tom and Cynthia Kruger. / Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright): I heard. / Nosei: This is Jean-Michel Basquiat. / Tom Kruger (Chuck Pfeiffer): Hi. / Nosei: You've seen the SAMO graffiti everywhere – that's his. This is the true voice of the gutter.
  12. figuratively A low, vulgar state. Get your mind out of the gutter.
  13. A space between comic strip panels.

verb gutters · guttering · guttered

  1. To flow or stream; to form gutters.
  2. To melt away by having the molten wax run down along the side of the candle.
  3. To flicker as if about to be extinguished. The light in his eyes guttered like a candle in a mighty wind and finally went out. She had no time to grieve[…]
  4. transitive To send (a bowling ball) into the gutter, not hitting any pins.
  5. transitive To supply with a gutter or gutters. A narrow flooring, guttered, walled, and tiled.
  6. transitive To cut or form into small longitudinal hollows; to channel. The gutter'd-Rockes, and Congregated Sands,
  7. intransitive, uncommon To worsen considerably. The students' performance guttered after the school event.

adjective more gutter · most gutter

  1. derogatory, figuratively, informal Vulgar, sordid, or low-class. The "greatest" controversy came when Farrakhan was accused of calling Judaism a "gutter religion". Farrakhan says he never used the word "gutter."

gutter²

  • /ˈɡʌt.ə/ UK
  • /ˈɡʌt.ɚ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈɡʌɾ.ɚ] Canada, US
  • /ˈɡat.ə/ Australia
  • [ˈɡaɾ.ə] Australia

Rhymes with -ʌtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

English gut

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English gutter

From gut + -er.

noun gutters

  1. One who or that which guts. A Galilean Rabbi? When did this Province of diggers in dirt and gutters of fish send forth Rabbis? Thou makest a jest.

Gutter³

proper noun Gutters

  1. A surname.

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